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I'm sitting here...having my Sunday-morning coffee, when I get a phone call. I pick up, and it's a guy calling me...regarding a message I sent him on Audiogon.

All it was, was a PM, IM...whatever the hell you want to call it; I sent the dude a message, like I've done a million times before. But SOMEHOW...off of that message...this dude ends up with my HOME phone number!

He sounds nice enough; doesn't sound like a scammer. But check this out...

He's calling...because his Internet is down; and it's actually his buddy, who listed the unit for him. But he hasn't seen his email recently...that's why he's calling. If I want to buy it, he'll take the offer I floated in my message; his PayPal address is...get ready to fall-down laughing...an @yahoo.co.uk (he's in the US, and says "that's a long story", as he gives it to me...lol).

I was polite, and told him I'd sleep on it; but this deal smells like f*cking Venice, at low tide!!!

All that aside; what is Audiogon doing, giving this guy all that info...up to, and including my phone number!? I mean, I know our addresses and last names are listed in our account info; along with phone numbers. But I thought that was just for transactions (which I'm not even crazy about...but I understand they're trying to establish some transparency, to thwart the scammers). But you're telling me...all I have to do is drop someone a line; like "hey...nice piece; might like to check that out myself some day"...and based on that, other members now have my last name, address, and home phone??

I'm getting ready to call Audiogon, and tell them they'll be lucky if I don't bring a law-suit!!! A friend of mine, who's in e-commerce, says it very well might be a violation of federal privacy laws. They can't give out my f*cking phone number, just because I email some dude about kit!!!

Am I being naive; or did everyone know they were doing this kind of stuff???

I'm sitting here...having my Sunday-morning coffee, when I get a phone call. I pick up, and it's a guy calling me...regarding a message I sent him on Audiogon.

All it was, was a PM, IM...whatever the hell you want to call it; I sent the dude a message, like I've done a million times before. But SOMEHOW...off of that message...this dude ends up with my HOME phone number!

He sounds nice enough; doesn't sound like a scammer. But check this out...

He's calling...because his Internet is down; and it's actually his buddy, who listed the unit for him. But he hasn't seen his email recently...that's why he's calling. If I want to buy it, he'll take the offer I floated in my message; his PayPal address is...get ready to fall-down laughing...an @yahoo.co.uk (he's in the US, and says "that's a long story", as he gives it to me...lol).

I was polite, and told him I'd sleep on it; but this deal smells like f*cking Venice, at low tide!!!

All that aside; what is Audiogon doing, giving this guy all that info...up to, and including my phone number!? I mean, I know our addresses and last names are listed in our account info; along with phone numbers. But I thought that was just for transactions (which I'm not even crazy about...but I understand they're trying to establish some transparency, to thwart the scammers). But you're telling me...all I have to do is drop someone a line; like "hey...nice piece; might like to check that out myself some day"...and based on that, other members now have my last name, address, and home phone??

I'm getting ready to call Audiogon, and tell them they'll be lucky if I don't bring a law-suit!!! A friend of mine, who's in e-commerce, says it very well might be a violation of federal privacy laws. They can't give out my f*cking phone number, just because I email some dude about kit!!!

Am I being naive; or did everyone know they were doing this kind of stuff???

Audiogon was such a nice little site a few years ago. Afraid it is really over as a viable audio trading site. I'd use AVS classifieds instead. Smaller audience but much safer.

I agree with some of this WOM. Audiogon is digging their own grave, much like Netflix. Netflix is doing it by costing themselves out of competition, and an out-dated business model (a much more complicated matter than Audiogon's). A lot of people are mentioning how CAM/USAM are still free. Sure, everyone wants to keep a little more of their hard-earned money...but the fee wasn't really the thing that put me off AG. When it happened, sure...2% of some of these items can add up to a little chunk of change; but the way I looked at it is we had a pretty good run there for a while. What "service" comes at no cost in this world?

No...it was the functionality, or lack thereof. For all I know, AG never has an application error now...has stellar communications...the greatest, new members in the world, and TONS of listings; doesn't matter...the bloom is off the rose. It was sooo bad, for sooo long after the launch...I tuned-out (oh, and lost transactions and money!). If someone else offers me a similar experience, that's where I'll trade...if and when I start trading again (yes...I used to be a pretty regular gear-swapper. AG really put me out of that part of the hobby).

As for eBay...I get your point, to an extent. Yes, if you have a piece of "mid-fi" gear; something maybe the budding audiophile knows by name...you'll likely get a premium at eBay, because they are not as savvy as the traders at Audiogon. Like a Parasound amp comes to mind. That's pretty ordinary to the AG crowd, and they come up all the time. However...for the guy coming from an AVR, you'll get a couple in a bidding war...who are thrilled about the idea of a Parasound amp (no offense meant to Parasound owners...lol); and you'll likely get more than you could ever dream at AG. OTOH...I doubt you'd do as well with higher-end gear, like Conrad Johnson, et al. Just too expensive for the average eBayer. I could be wrong; never really tried selling hi-end stuff there.

It's funny you say this about Netflix because it's currently at what, $289 a share? It's worth almost 6x more than it was a year ago. Sometimes you have to take a step back to make a big leap forward. I'm not saying Audiogon is like Netflix, and we all know that users dislike change, but change is necessary for progress.

Anybody else find it annoying that every time a seller accepts an offer the listing is immediately closed and archived? I've had numerous tire kickers make offers, only to never hear from them again. Audiogon is only too happy to charge you to relist the item.

I've recently bought a Krell amp and a set of def tech speakers off Audiogon with no problems. I likewise sold a piece of gear last month with no problems.

I prefer the cliental at Audiogon to other on-line auction sites as I find them to be far more trustworthy and forthcoming.

I'm sorry to hear about some of the problems others are having.

I think some of the complaints of the fees are a bit selfish. I have other passions outside of music / home theatre. Two of them being motorcycles and snowmobiles. Combined these hobbies are a huge waste of resources. When compared to the amount of money spent on this hobby, a $4 fee seems rather trivial.

I don't think the $4 fee is the problem. The commission they charge on sales in addition to the $4 fee is the problem. It drove them to completely ruin the communications between buyers and sellers because they are so worried someone may not complete the sale through their website or leave feedback. I've had "messages" on their site blocked because it contained my email address which is strictly forbidden. On top of that, the messaging is a joke and you never know if messages actually get to the other party. I've had a few transactions on the new site and on each one, there have been messages sent that were never received.